I Pledge Allegiance to the Earth: A Prayer For the Planet

The world is at a crossroads. The window of opportunity for salvaging something resembling its present state of equilibrium is rapidly closing. The battle lines have been drawn. Join me in sounding the alarm on Earth’s behalf. Esteem for Earth should be weightless, an innate, underlying constant amid the tumult, no more a burden than love of home and hearth. From the national level down to the individual, material prosperity is the primary value. But what is the economic value of our planet? To try to state the answer in dollars and cents is impossible and an affront to life. Our methodology is crude and unrefined, our arrogance so complete that the miraculous is made trivial when judged against our priorities. Air, soil, and water enrich us in ways money can’t buy. What standard of worth should we use? This, too, is an ambiguous question. The answer is surely linked with what makes us human and not with what makes us wealthy. One thing is certain: climate change and pollution are hitting the economy squarely in the jaw.